Football kicking tee



Aug. 19, 1969 w. L. SHIRLEY ET AL 3,462,145

. FOOTBALL KICK ING TEE Filed June 13. 1966 INVHNIUR. William LfihirlgyHenfy L. Lee

Jef D. Branjy p9 W Avg/.9

United States Patent 3,462,145 FOOTBALL KICKING TEE William L. Shirleyand Henry L. Lee, both of Union Springs, Ala. 36089, and Jeff D.Brantly, 3143 Cloverdale Road, Montgomery, Ala. 36106 Filed June 13,1966, Ser. No. 557,147 Int. Cl. A63b 67/00 U.S. Cl. 273-55 2 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Our invention relates to an improved devicefor holding footballs in kicking position.

An object of our invention is to provide a simple, fully effectivedevice by means of which a football may be held in generally uprightposition for practice kicking extra points and field goals.

More specifically, our invention contemplates a device of the characterdesignated which, by simple rearrangement may selectively be employedfor holding the ball in position for kicking by either right footed orleft footed kickers.

Another object of our invention is to provide a football holder whichconsists essentially of a staple-like frame, the vertical legs of whichare adapted to be stuck into the ground, the football holding arm beingdisposed to extend outwardly of the frame, generally in the same planeoccupied by the vertical legs of the frame, together with a spring whichbiases the arm downwardly, whereby the ball is held firmly butdisplaceably between the outer end of the arm and the ground on whichthe ball rests.

A more detailed object is to provide a football holder in which theframe itself may be integrally formed of a single length of wire, thepivotal connection for the arm being a simple loop formed in one leg ofthe frame, the arm itself being loosely pivotally connected by in turnforming a loop in its end which passes through the loop in the leg,together with a cross member secured to the leg in which the loop isformed and below the same, whereby a tension spring may selectively beconnected to opposite ends of the cross member and to the arm, thuspermitting the device to be arranged for right and left footed kickers,as will hereinafter appear.

A device illustrating features of our invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this application in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view showing the device holding a football inposition for kicking by a right footed kicker;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the device set up as shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of the device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating the method of converting the device fromright to left footed kicking position; and

FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing the device holdinga football in position for kicking by a left footed kicker.

Referring now to the drawings for a better understanding of ourinvention, we show in FIG. 1 a frame indicated generally by the numeraland which generally described and illustrated may be in the form of anenlarged staple. Thus, the frame may embody the legs 11 and 12, adapted3,462,145 Patented Aug. 19, 1969 to be stuck into the ground generallyin vertical position, and a base portion 13. The entire frame may beformed integrally of a single length of wire of about one-quarter inchdiameter.

In one leg of the frame, namely, the leg farthest away from the ball, weprovided a loop indicated at 14. The holding arm indicated generally bythe numeral 16 embodies a loop 17 at its end which passes through theloop 14, whereby the arm 16 is loosely pivoted to the leg 11, formovement in horizontal and vertical planes through considerable arcs.The arm is provided with a downturned, outer end portion 18 adapted toengage the upper end of a football F resting on the ground, thereby tohold the ball in proper kicking position as will later appear.

Intermediate its ends arm 16 which, incidentally, may also be formed ofan integral length of wire, is provided with a loop 19. The loop 19preferably is formed in the arm 16 at a point outwardly of the loop 17 adistance not exceeding the width between the legs 11 and 12.

Secured to the leg 11, at a point below the loop 14 therein, is a crossmember 21. The cross member may be provided with eyes or loops 22 and 22in its ends. A tension member such as a spring or rubber band 23 has oneend connected to the loop 19 and is disposed for selective connection tothe loops 22 or 22 In use and for holding a ball for kicking by a rightfooted kicker, the device is set up as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. Thus,the kicker approaches the ball, for right hand kicking, in the directionof the arrow 26, FIG. 2. Therefore, with the ball in position on theground and the end 18 of arm 16 resting on the upper end of the ball, itwill be apparent that spring 23 biases the arm downwardly, whereby theball is held in proper kicking position. As the kicker strikes the ballwith his foot, approaching it from the direction 26, the arm 16 is freeto pivot in the kicking direction due to the loose connection affordedby the loops 14 and 17. Thus, the kicking arm is fully effective to holdthe ball, but in no way impedes the passage of the kickers foot and legin the place in which the ball is held, thus effectively simulating theholding of the ball by the finger of another player.

As shown in FIG. 4 the device is easily and quickly converted to leftfoot kicking. This is done simply by moving the arm 16 to the oppositeside of leg 12 by pivoting the arm downwardly to pass under the pointedend of leg 12 and by setting the device up as shown in FIG. 5. Ofcourse, a left footed kicker approaches the ball as shown in FIG. 5 fromthe direction 26.

It will be noted that when the device is converted from the rightposition to the left position, the end of the spring 23 is removed fromthe loop 22 and placed in the loop 22 Further, in either position itwill be noted that the spring 23 holds the arm 16 in contact with theside of the leg 12, the leg in either position thus acting as a stop toprevent the spring from pivoting the arm toward the direction from whichthe kicker approaches the ball.

In view of the foregoing it will be apparent that we have devised animproved, simple and fully effective holder for positioning and holdinga footbally for kicking While we have shown the football as beingpositioned essentially upright or vertical, nevertheless it Will beapparent that the ball may be tilted to precisely the angle desired bythe individual kicker. Our device is as fully effective to hold the ballin tilted position as to hold it in upright position. Further, thedevice is extremely economical to manufacture since it may be madeessentially of three pieces of sturdy wire, namely, frame 10, arm 16 andcross member 21. The cross member 21 may be secured to the leg 11 in anydesired manner as by spot welding.

While we have shown our invention in but one form it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof various changes and modifications without departing from the spiritthereof.

What we claim is:

1. In a football kicking holder,

(a) a stable-like frame having legs adapted to be stuck into the ground,

(b) an elongated football holding arm loosely pivotally connected at oneend to one of said legs and disposed for its outer end to rest on theupper end of an upright football placed on the ground, the holding armextending outwardly generally in the plane in which the legs of theframe lie and being disposed to lie alongside of and in contact with theleg nearest the football being held,

(0) a cross member secured to the frame leg to which the holding arm ispivoted and located beneath the pivot point thereof,

((1) a tension member having one end secured to the holding armintermediate its ends and the other end selectively connectible to thecross member, whereby the arm is biased downwardly onto the ball, thusto hold it in said upright kicking position, and

(e) said cross member extending normally of the plane in which the legslie and having means adjacent its ends for anchoring one end of saidspring, whereby 2 the arm may be positioned on either side of the legalongside which it lies and the spring may be selectively anchored toeither end of the cross member,

thus permitting the device to hold a football for left or right footedkickers.

2. A football kicking holder as defined in claim 1 in which thestable-like frame consists of a single length of wire, .in which saidholding arm consists of a length of wire, there being loops formed inone leg of said frame and in one end of said arm, which loops areinterconnected thus to form the pivot point for the arm relative to saidleg, said arm having a loop intermediate its ends for anchoring an endof said spring, said cross member being in the form of a length of wirehaving a loop in each end for selectively anchoring the opposite end ofsaid spring, said pivotal connection formed by the loops in the end ofsaid arm and the loop in said leg permitting the arm to pivot downwardlyto pass beneath the lower end of the leg of the frame opposite the oneto which it is pivoted, whereby the device may be use-d selectively forright and left footed kicking of the ball being held by it.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 834,211 10/1906 Linderman l2443852,123 4/1907 Leggett l2443 3,105,686 10/1963 Elsea.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner THEATRICE BROWN, Assistant Examiner

